Sorting or sizing apparatus



Sept. 4, 1923. 1,466,764

LE ROY D. SPENCER omme on SIZING APPARATUS Filed March 2'4'. 1922 sSheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES ATTORNEYS s Shats-Sheet 2 Filed March -24 192:2

INI/ENTOR L; We r 05mm 52/ A TTORNEYS Spt; 4, 1923.

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.WIT/VES 7" 1 5* i I g BYZ Sept. 4, 1923. v 1,466,764

, LE ROY D. SPENCER SORTING OR SIZING APPARATUS Filed March 24, 1922 3Sheets-Sheet 5 WITNESSES IN WEN T08 11 T TORNE Y8 OER, a citizen of theUnited-States, and a,

Patented Sept. 4, 1923 warren sra'res LE no nonnsrENcne', or'wrnnser,wasnme'ron.

sonrrne "on srzrne APPARATUS.

.tlpplicati on filed March 24, 1922. Serial no; 546,439.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that 1, Ln ROY Donn SPEN-rresident of Winesap, in thecounty of Chelan and State of Washington haveinvented certain new and usefulirnprovem'ents in Sort-' .in or Sizin Aaratus, of which the fole g PP I V lowing is a speCiticationQ Thisinvention relates to a sorting or vsiz ing apparatus.

The object of the invention is vide an apparatus of the above characterby which apples 0r the like maybe sorted .or gradedinto different sizesin a highly efficient and expeditiousmanner. i 4 I Itis also an objectof the invention that s the apparatus be adapted to grade or sortobjectssuch. as ples or thelike into any number of sizes desired 1 It isfurther an important objector" the invention that the apparatus beextremely simple in construction andinegpensive to the two-end members16a. r c p The interior'of the bin B isdivided into .which,

manufacture.

It is a still furtherobject ofthe invention that means be providedwhereby in sorting.

the apples or the like the same will not be bruised. r; ,7 1 V 7 Other.objects and objects relating to details of construction, combination andar-' rangementof parts ,will hereinafter appear in-thedetaileddescription to follow;

,The invention is illustrated byway of example, in the accompanyingdrawings in m Figure 1- is aperspective view illustrating a sorting orgrading apparatus constructed the endwalls 1l,side walls 12 ,andithe twotop walls 13, said topwalls extendinglongitudinally of the bin and theiradjacentvsides being spaced from each other f Also the legs 10 arebracedby longitudinalslb and a plurality of compartments genera-llyindi: cated by the reference characterC, said compartments being formedby the vertical di vision walls. 1'? V and said walls estendin o 9 v ato proins; the associated belt3l.

transversely of "the" bin and arranged in longitudinal spaced relation.of the same.

At one end of the bin there is secured to the end wall 11 suitablebrackets as at 18 between which there is mounted a roller 19. Also thereis supported by the brackets the one end of a hopper generallyindicatedby the reference character EL said hopper comprising; an inclinedbCttorniQOand the retaining boards 21 which are three in numher and theend retaining board being recessed as at22 and having brackets 23 extending therefrom between which there is rotatably supported a roller24. About the rollers 19 and 24 there extends aplurality of belts 25,said belts being preferably two in number as shown and the lower sectionofeach belt passing beneath the bottom of the hopper H while the upper.section thereof operates immediately over the upper surra'resr eerie-s,1

face of the hopper bottom 20. The purpose of this will later appear.

Fromthe other end of the bin B there extends a pair of bracketsi fibetween which there is rotatably supported a roller 27 andsaidybracketsbeing secured together by a or cross member 28. Therolleron itsone-end carries a pulley 29 about which may pass a power belt 80.About the rollers 19 and 27 there extendstwo outer belts 31. and anintermediate belt 32. Each of the belts 3 1 gradually diverges from thebelt 32 from the roller 19 towardthe roller 27. As shown invFigure 2there is extended longitudinally of the-bin for each belt a supportingmem ber and a likesupportingniember 34: for

the belt 82. Upon each supporting'member 38 there is laida guide railorthe like as at 35-and a similar rail'36 is positioned upon the support34 for the belt 32 In each in stance the belts 31 have their outer edgeprovided with a retainingr flange 37 which extends upwardly as shown'andalso each guiderail 351s recessed as at fOtreceiy- To each guide rail 3Sthere isjsecured a retaining plate mem ber 39 which is recessedlongitudinally as at 4:0 toreceive the retaining flange37 of theassociated belt 31. It also may be mentioned .the inner edges of theguide rails 35 and likewise the supporting members 33 are inclined asshown; in Figure 2 and also the edgesof the supporting plateSt and guiderail ,36 are. sloped inwardly as likewise shown.

Each guide railfi fi and itsessociated re or other objects to be sortedr taining plate member 39 are pivotally secured to the bin B by means ofa bolt as at 41, said bolt in each instance being adapted to permit theguide rail 35 and associ ated plate member 39 to swing longitudinallyand therefore permit the opposite ends thereof to be used for adjustingthe distance between belt 32 and belts 31.

At the free ends of the guide rails 35 and plate members 39 there ispositioned for each guide rail an L-shaped clip 42 which has extendedthrough its free end an adjustable bolt which may be used for adjustablyholding the associated guide rails 35 and its retaining plate 39.

The belt 32 is also provided with a rib 4A: which extends centrally andlongitudinally thereof and from the cross member '28 between the bracketmembers 26 there is extended rearwardly a guide member std which isprovided with a suitable slot extending longitudinally thereof and in.lower face adapted for receiving the a l of the belt 32 and thus servingas guide means for said belt and re'tainin the same in a centralposition with respec' to the rollers 19 and 27. I

Each compartment C is provides with a pair of depressible bottoms 45(Figure 2). Each bottom i hingedat its inner end as at 4L5.. to thelongitudinal division wall at, and the outer end of each bottom is sup-M row 2 ported by compression springs 46. Preferably two compressionsprings are associat'ed with each bottom, and said compression springsare supported by the longi tudinals 15 extending between the legs 10.

In the use of the present device apples sized are deposited in thehopper H and then the power is supplied from Y the belt 30 for rotatingthe rollers 19,v 2'7 and 24. The belts 31 and 32 should move so thattheir upper sections will travel in a direction from the hopper H andthe upper sections of the belts 25'should move in a similar direction.With this occi'irring the apples will. be taken from the hopper H anddeposited in the slots occurring between the opposing edges of the belts31 and 32., The apples or objects being sorted will pass along and sizedor sorted, the different sizes dropping into the compartments Cthereb'eneath.

If it is desired to more closely sort apples or the like, then oicourse, the screws 4L3 should be adjusted for properly spacing the belts31 and 32.

The springs 46 are adapted to hold the floor 45 so that. when noobjectsa-re deposited in a compartment the bottoms d5 are substantiallyhorizontal. [is the compartments fill, the outer ends of the bottoms aredepressed. As is apparent the appleswill at ah times drop the samedistance, and

since the distance is not great no bruising of the apples Wlll occur. InFigure 2 the bottoms 45 are shown as depressed v1z.,

' the different compartments have been filled,

the dotted line indicating the top surface of apples or other objects inthese compartmeuts.

Referring'to Figure 3, B indicates a bin which is longitudinally dividedinto compartments C. The one end of the bin is secured to the hopper Hwhich supports the rollers 19 and 24:. The bin B is of greater lengththan the bin shown in Figures i and 2, and additional compartments C areprovided. This for the purpose of grading the applesor other objectsinto a 'reater number of sizes. At the end oppoite to the hopper H ofthe bin B there is ositioned a roller 27 and intermediate the -oller 19;and 27' there is supported a roller er the rollersli) and 2-1 therepasses the three belts 25" which are adapted to move the fruit from thehopper H upon the sizing apparatus. and 19' there passes the two outerbelts 31 and about the rollers 21 and 19 there passes the twointermediate belts 32. The belts 32 CllVGI'gQfI'OHIBflCll other asshown,

Over the rollers 9 and each belt 31 in turn diverges from the adjacentbelt 32. The belts 32 are adapted to carry the fruit over the extendedend of the hopper B and deposit the same'iinto compartments C. Suit-ableguides and adjusting means for theiditi'eren'tbelts are belts 31 and 32.The smaller applesare of course dropped into the first compart-' m'entsC between each of the belts 31 and adjacent belt 32; the larger applesare car- 'ried on into the furthermost compartments C and thus providingmeans by which a closergrading or sizing ofappl'es or other "fruit maybe had. The roller 9 should be recessed as shown at a point between thebelts 32 so that apples may freely pass thereover.

lVhile T have shown and described two forms of sizingand sortingapparatus enibodying my invention, it is to be understood that I amaware of the fact that various changes and modifications may be,

made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention or thespirit of the appended claims.

Vlhatl claim is 2",

1. In a sizing apparatus, a compartment, means for droppingobjects beingsized into theone end of said compartment, a bottom for saidcompartment, and means for. sup porting said bottom so that the outerend thereof may be depressed with the filling of said compartment whiletheinner end thereof remains stationary. i

2. In a sizing apparatus, a plurality of compartments into which theobjects being sized maybe distributed, and abottom tor each of saidcompartments having its'onej side hinged andits other side yieldablysupported. V

3. In a sizing apparatus, a plurality of compartments into which theobjects being sized may be distributed,and a bottom for each compartmenthaving its inner end hinged and its outer end yieldablysupported. I

4. In a sizing apparatus, a plurality of compartments into which theobjects being sized may be distributed, and abottom for,

each compartment having its inner end hinged and its outer end supportedby springs.

5. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a bin having aplurality of compartments arranged longitudinally thereof, a roller ineach end of the bin and aroller at a point intermediate the ends of thebin, a pair of belts passing about the end rollers, and a pair of beltspassing about one end'roller and the intermediate roller,

the first named belts being disposed between along the outer edge ofeach belt extending between an end roller and the intermediate roller. i

7. In a device of the character described, movable belts adapted to sizeobjects placed thereon and deliver the same to different points, ahopper, and a plurality of belts extending longitudinally of said hopperadapted to deliver obyects within the hopper Y named be ts.

to the first LE ROY DODD SPENCER.

